Friday's Child // Draco Malfoy

4:

CW: mentions of parental bereavement, thalassophobia. 
Literally all I talk about in the first half of this chapter is meat I'm actually crying with laughter loool - this is literally just a pointless, but fun lil chapter - we're developing Druno's bond. (Druno/Jaco? idk)  

The following Friday Draco found Juno just beyond the edge of the forbidden forest, almost hidden by the dense line of trees. Though he was getting used to her eccentricities, he was startled to see her running her hands over something that seemingly wasn't there. As she heard the crunch of his footsteps approaching, she turned to face him with a smile, never once lowering her hand.

"Oh, good, you're here. Will you pass me the bag of meat?" She huffed. He looked at her perplexed as his eyes wandered to a small rock, beside it was a clear plastic bag filled with raw meat. He turned his nose up as he loosely picked up the bag with the very tip of his fingers, almost throwing it at her. "Thank you, I would have gotten it myself but this guy gets upset if I stop petting him," She scratched thin air and he felt even more confused than before. He wondered if he should take her to the hospital wing.

"Have you done mushrooms again?" He asked, wearily.

"No?" She laughed, opening the bag and pulling out some of the meat with her bare hands.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

"Feeding the thestrals,"

"Thestrals? There's nothing there-"

"Oh, Draco, you can't see them!" She exclaimed, throwing the meat into the air. It disappeared without a trace. She withdrew her wand, casting a cleaning charm on her hands before going back to petting the creature invisible to his eye. "That's quite wonderful, actually, I'm rather glad you can't see them. Here, come," She reached out, grabbing his hand, pulling him towards her. He stared into the vast abyss of nothing, convinced she was slightly out of her mind, putting it down to her usual, offbeat self. But then, she placed his hand against something he couldn't see, it looked as though his hand was floating in mid-air, stopped by an invisible barrier. He ran his hand up and down the skin, feeling the steady breaths of the animal under his touch, just about hearing as it sighed contentedly.

"Why can't I see it?" He asked, almost leaping back as the creature moved, nuzzling what he assumed was its head on his arm. She squatted down, her attention drawn to another of the creatures, a seemingly smaller one.

"You have to have seen death to see thestrals," she shrugged, passively. "They're not everyone's cup of tea but I really like them, they're very cute, especially the young ones," he heard the thestral beside him huff at her words, she giggled slightly, "No offence, Zeno,"

"They have names?"

"According to Hagrid,"

"So," he hesitated, unsure of how to approach his next question, he wondered if they were close enough to share such intimacies. "You can-?"

"Can I see them?" She finished, her eyes softening as she sent him a reassuring smile. "Yes, I can see them, and I'm very glad I can, they're lovely,"

"Oh, erm-" he scratched the back of his neck, uncomfortably, "sorry-" 

"You're funny," she giggled, "there's no need to get flustered, Draco, death is a perfectly natural part of life," 

"Right, yeah,"

"It was my mum, you probably read about it in the Quibbler-"

"I don't read the Quibbler-" 

"Oh you should," she remarked, her eyebrows furrowing slightly, "Daddy edits it, it's the most reliable source of news,"